BYU Basketball Head Coach Kevin Young on NIL: 'It's Similar to the NBA'

Talmage Morgan | Oct 24, 2024

Oct 23, 2024; Kansas City, MO, USA; Brigham Young Cougars head coach Kevin Young talks to media during the Big 12 Men’s Basketball Media Day at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

At Big 12 Media Day in Kansas City, BYU head coach Kevin Young fielded questions on the Cougars' approach to NIL and its impact on recruiting. For Young, the transition from the NBA to college basketball has been a natural shift, given some of the similarities between NIL dynamics and professional basketball.

“The NIL space, it’s just a different word for kind of how things operate in the NBA,” Young said. “I find a lot of similarities there, and so quite frankly it’s been a real comfortable space for me to be in.”

Young emphasized that BYU’s move to the Big 12, including the need to compete at a high level, made it crucial to understand what role NIL would play in the program's future. “When BYU decided to make the move to the Big 12, in my mind, that was them just saying they want to compete with the best,” Young explained. “Just trying to get a better understanding of what that looked like in the NIL space was important to me.”

While NIL has created challenges for many programs, Young sees it as an opportunity, given his NBA experience. “It’s a unique time for me to make this transition because I think where it’s driving some coaches out, I’m welcoming it with open arms,” Young said. “I don’t know the old way. I know this way of doing it, and it’s very much like the NBA.”

Young also mentioned the advantages BYU offers with its fanbase and NIL support. “BYU has an unbelievable fanbase, an unbelievable amount of support,” he said. “Being able to see what that translated to from the NIL space has been something I tried to do my homework on quite a bit before taking the job.”

Looking ahead, Young stressed the importance of playing by the rules while maximizing opportunities. “Whatever the rules are, we are going to operate within those rules,” he said. “You learn the rules and figure it out, just like in the NBA, and that’s how we are operating.”